Some more pics again...

They keep coming...

You guessed it...

Looking Good James! Nice Job!

What size machine are you shooting for?

I had fun learning to weld I must say.

Cheers,
Travis

Not sure on the size Travis. I just wanna cut 4' x 8' sheets of mdf or ply. Figured I would make it bigger than that for the 4th axis and a flat surface for whatever else. Could you tell me what your base dimensions are from outside of i-beams both ways? Curious where my stands up to yours...

Anyways thanks for the comment Travis. I am really starting to love welding.

James

James,

mine ended up at 68.375" wide, but remember, I did mine a little different. My rails are flush with the beams side and do not hang over like the plans. My rack is stuck to the bottom side of the I-beam so all 3 pcs are flush. Double/triple check your numbers before you cut the gantry tubes.

James, The build is looking good.

When your X I beams show up I would start building upside down. You can place the beams on the ground and get the square and parallel very easily. Place your plates in your leg position and drill and bolt them down. Place your whole leg assembly on top of the plates that are attached to the beams. Once again make sure you beams and legs are square and parallel. Tack weld all the legs to the plates and the weld them in place. While you have everything upside down and on the ground be sure to drill all your Y axis supports bolt holes. If your table ends up like mine you will have around 40 holes to drill under there. Not and easy feat to do upside down.

My table ended up being 69 3/4 outside of the I beams. 71 1/8 on the outside of the X rails. I do have a fair amount of overlap on the side and I forget how I came about that number but I have a feeling it had to do with using as much metal and not having scrap. Better to have a little extra than a little less. ;)

Great looking welds !!! What did you weld those with ??

Oh Nice Title For My Thread !!! Thanks Mike

Travis thanks for those measurements and your advice. I too will be doing what you did keeping everything flush.

Regnar thanks for sharing your assembly strategy and experience. I have slowed down a bit on my base and am going to see about getting the beams. I figured even if my base isn't a 100% perfect the beams can be tweaked to get it just right... although shooting for 100% percent has always been my goal and nemesis...

Mike thanks a lot for the compliments on the welds. I was a bit surprised to get any kudos for the way they looked from anyone here. As my first time I think they are ok but really I should give all credit to the new first welder that I ever purchased. Its all mig. Millermatic 211 with 25/75 mixture. A antique care fabricator that I work with insisted on me purchasing a tig and learning it that way but I saw him work the tig and got scared.. Three things at once kinda shied me away. In all though he was impressed by my welds too which I don't understand. Maybe because I was a caulker for a glazing company that technique has helped.

In any event I am hooked now on the Mechmate design. My current machine has proved to hold its own but this is going to be leaps and bounds in comparison..

Once again thanks guys.

James

I have its big brother. Millermatic 252. What wire are you running? Also what setting was it on... Note always write the good settings down. They will vary depending on a lot of factors, but you had your machine dialed in .... even if it was luck. :D

Settings:

1/8" material...
.030 Wire
Setting on 6
Wire Feed on 60
Gas Mixture set @ 26

Note this is running on 110v

I will write that setting down for future use.. Did not even think about that..

:)

Good to get a small pad and keep it close to the machine. You could then make some small laminated sheets that you can put next to the welder for future refrence.

Well my metal is costing me an arm and a leg. I called to see if my local scrap yard had some 8" x 15lb I-beam and they didn't in a 12' length. So I was forced to call a local metal supplier and I got a 24' piece, which will be cut into two 12' pieces for... wait for it.... $366.87 usd

So that really sucks. As it stands I have spent $670.00 for the base so far. Add the 366.87 and well its getting up there. I still have to purchase the y-carriage metal as well as the kit from Mike and purchase some leveling feet...

Boy on a cash as it comes basis this really sucks.. Wish the wifey would throw me some credit cards but looking for a house is trumping that idea.

Anyways once my I-beam for the rails comes in I will figure out how to incorporate that with my already put together base.

Stay tuned.

James

Nice looking build, steel prices are really going up this year, some are saying as much as 66% we have already seen a 20% increase so far this year.

Sure am getting pretty upset with my grinder setup for the rails. I cut a piece of steel as a base and than used the top portion of the angle sled to mark locations so that I can weld nuts to the steel base. Then I threaded the 5/16" bolts that I am using from the bottom and stuck the skate onto the bolts and pushed it down, while my grinder was attached, and the head of my grinder bottomed out to the steel base which prevented me to get the required height to cut my angle iron. I know a picture would be worth a thousand words but I'm too upset to do anything right now. Well not too upset but just disappointed in myself.

Anyways I'm going to cry now.... Be back later to try something different.

James

Things are looking good James. Its good to see you over here and building a quality machine. Just take your time and enjoy the ride, it will pay off. Keep up the good work. :)

rjstenz

That's my boy RJ. Good to hear from you too. Thanks for the encouragement buddy.

James

Ok... Any takers on letting me see their machine to help me get motivated? I would like to see someones who lives relatively close to Reno, Nevada... USA

I have a working cnc machine right now and would really like to see if it is worth all the effort and expense to continue on with my Mechmate build... Yes its worth it I know but still would like to see someones.

James if you are ever in the Tampa Fl area I would be happy to show you the machine. I know I couldn't finish up the machine without Nils and Jimmys motivational trips.

We should have a Camp Mechmate! :)

How do you call this profile?

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1296447912

I looked for IPN but they are all asimetric and yours looks square.

Thanks!

hello peu...
the profile is HEA i never see them here. well iam not on the industry but...

es verdad nunca los vi por estos pagos, ni acindar ni otros fabricantes locales tienen este modelo de perfil, lastima, esta bueno para una pata de router. Avanzaste algo?

Pablo, that profile is typically used for vertical columns (pillars) in buildings and other structures. They are meant to carry load from end to end. In British parts of the world they are called "universal column".

Thanks Gerald for responding before I could get to it.
Gerald is exactly right. They are meant to carry loads both vertically and horizontally.

It's a wide flange beam. Sometimes called a "W" section. A "W" section has parallel flanges that are a consistant thickness and web that is slightly thinner than the flanges. Gerald is correct that they are often used as columns but they are also used horizontally as well, especially sizes that are taller and narrower. You will often see this section used in bridges and high-rise buildings.

Here is some some size and engineering information on them.

http://nucoryamato.com/StaticData/catalog.pdf

Thanks!

Now I guess why this beam profile is not available in our market, because building foundations here are made of concrete columns not steel, thus there is no need for structural columns of this type

you can still use U-beam, just get some wedge washer. I remember this is discussed in detail somewhere in this forum.

Clogging up my thread boys.... Maybe start another thread about steel extrusions?

No worries :)

Russell thank you for the invite. I might someday take you up on that offer.

Im closing up on a house with a three car garage on Monday so the building has stopped for now. Once I figure out how to have the right kinda storage for the garage I will continue once the "Honey Do's" are completed.

Thanks once again:)

I made some edge lit signs for a client. Thought some of you might like to see it. I will include a link to my YouTube channel where the video is.

If you like it, please "Subscribe" to my channel so you can be notified of when I post other videos. I'm going to try and ramp up my video production of the projects I do.

http://youtu.be/cwItHS_2zck

Nice work, James. I enjoyed the video. I like seeing the project from start to finish. Your use of time-lapsed video let me see all the steps without having to sit through mind-numbing "real-time" cutting videos. Keep 'em coming.:)

John thank you for the nice comment. It's comments like this that make me want to continue doing the videos. After making some of my earlier videos and watching them at a later time, my attention span was being tested. Hence the time lapse videos.

Needless to say, I will keep up with the videos. :)

Great work James ... I will have to make one but it will have the Montreal Canadiens logo on it!.

BTW, can you provide the source of your LED strip? I have done some searching but with so many choices, I want to be sure I purchase one that works.

Sounds good. I can't wait to see it.
PM sent

Very cool James.

Darren thanks brotherman. Good to hear from you again.
Take care man :)

Love 'em:)

Thanks Tom :)

Hey guys, I just posted another YouTube video on my channel. I made a storefront sign for the same client. I thought I would share this with you guys, hoping that it gave some of you ideas on making your own. It's not too complicated to make and I'm not claiming to be a professional. I'm like all of you just trying to generate business and learn a few things.

Here's a link to the video that I made.
https://youtu.be/yC3SqR2VkI4